A well-leased large format retail property on close to half a hectare of strategically-located Business-B zoned land on the north-eastern fringe of New Plymouth’s central business district has come to the market, as investors around the country continue to seek out regional opportunities.
Anchored by one of Australasia’s leading retail chains, Spotlight, and with supporting occupiers The Salvation Army, Razz Print, and TSB Bank, the freehold property at 116 Molesworth Street has additional street frontage to Gill and High Streets.
The 4,974sqm flat site has 64 car parks and 3,683sqm of building footprint with A-grade seismic credentials.
The property returns a total net annual income of $480,511.38 plus GST and outgoings and is being marketed by Iain Taylor of Bayleys Taranaki, in conjunction with Auckland-based Bayleys colleagues Mike Houlker and Sunil Bhana.
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Tenders close with Bayleys Taranaki on Wednesday 24 August, unless sold prior.
Taylor said as an asset class, large format retail has performed exceptionally well throughout the pandemic, outpacing many other sectors in New Zealand on annualised capital and income returns according to investment research firm MSCI.
“Bulk retail has proven to be a defensive asset class on the back of resilient consumer spending at big box stores,” he said.
“The New Plymouth subject property has well-performing craft and homeware-related store Spotlight as its anchor tenant, with more than eight years remaining on its current lease.
“As a brand, Spotlight is actively growing its market presence around New Zealand which will provide confidence to a new owner of the Molesworth Street property.”
Taylor said the Taranaki region is proving popular with national investors due to the stable nature of the provincial market.
“There is demonstrated investor appetite for well-leased A-grade properties in good locations, with Bayleys Taranaki concluding a number of weighty multi-million-dollar sales of investment stock in recent months.”
With triple street frontage, the subject landholding has excellent profile – particularly to high vehicle count Molesworth Street, and its position so close to the main CBD creates strong underlying land value.
Spotlight and The Salvation Army occupy the ground floor, with Razz Print and two storage tenancies within the developed part of the basement which is ground floor to Molesworth Street.
The Spotlight tenancy comprises a large open plan bulk retail area that runs along the western side of the property while the central northern portion houses two workrooms, an office, storeroom, two unisex toilets, a block of female toilets, and an amenities space.
Located in the northern section of the building, The Salvation Army tenancy has a main retail showroom, office, staffroom, storeroom, and staff toilets.
Spotlight Limited’s 10-year lease runs through to December 2030 with a further two, six-year rights of renewal and annual CPI reviews.
The Salvation Army New Zealand Trust has a five-year lease from December 2020, with one further five-year right of renewal and annual CPI reviews.
On the basement level of the property, TSB Bank occupies a 200sqm storage space while Razz Print occupies the formed part of this level along the northern end which features a glass frontage to High Street, with ground floor access to both Molesworth and High Street.
Surrounding development in the area is largely bulk retail and service industry type uses with neighbouring businesses including Plumbing World, Freedom Furniture, Resene, CB Norwoods, Hyundai, and Bridgestone Tyre Centre.
Spotlight has occupied the Molesworth Street site since the late 1990s and its current long-term lease with renewals is a clear sign of its commitment to the location.
- Article supplied by Bayleys
